After breakfast, as was the case with Matt and Phil, I said goodbye to Mark and Martin although we were heading in the same general direction. Although I was heading for Tirana (if all went well) Mark and Martin were aiming for Durres by the reputedly filthy sea.
On the way out of town I rode past the rather impressive University of Berat building being completed very close to the centre of town.
University of Berat
Prior to arriving in Albania I had heard about the bunkers required by Enver Hoxha to be used to protect Albania from invasion. There total number of bunkers may not be known although some sources suggest 700,000 while others suggest more likely 40,000 - 70,000. It is possible that the number varies so greatly due to the various sizes of the bunkers - some are one man sniper placements while others are 4-5 man large domed structures out in the open.
Depending upon where you enter Albania they are almost the first thing you see. Since I had arrived from the eastern edge of Greece/Albani near the coast it seems I had missed out…..until I rode along the highway near Rogozhine on my way towards Durres. Beside the crops in the fields were several obvious bunkers.
I turned around to take a closer look.
Hoxha's Bunkers
Some of the bunkers were being used for storage of timber, while others were in people's backyards, some were being demolished, others served as footings for billboards while others of various sizes sat silently seemingly untouched.
On top of Hoxha's Bunker
Hoxha's Backyard Bunker
The idea was that the local residents would take up arms to defend Albania and use their nearby bunkers for protection.
Slow Demolition Process
I have read that it has taken some residents more than 3months of working evenings and weekends to demolish bunkers on their properties. They are definitely an unusual sight throughout the landscape once you get to see them.
On my way to Tirana I decided I would go via Durres to have some lunch and to get a feel for another one of the larger Albanian port cities. As I was riding in the general direction of the centre and the port I saw two motorcyclists on the other side of the road looking a little lost.
Mark and Martin had stopped to try and find their hotel, which according to the GPS coordinates was a vacant parcel of land….
The GPS coordinates were out(incorrect) and there had been a sign for the hotel back along the highway. After asking a few of the local young fellas the three of rode in the direction provided in the hope of finding the hotel. I decided to join them and have my lunch at their hotel.
A small sign indicated going down a gravel track which looked a little doubtful, so Martin went aead to check it out. We got the go-ahead to head down the narrow gravel track which then went through the driveway of some apartments before arriving at the back gate and garage entry of their hotel.
After parking in the garage I went out by the expanse of sand to have some lunch while they checked-in and got out of their bike gear.
Durres Hotel Parking - Lunch time.
Mark and Martin don't usually have lunch so after they joined me for a drink and I was finished lunch I headed on my way to Tirana.
It was a pretty straightforward ride into Tirana on a hot afternoon. Once arriving however, it was a little more problematic trying to find the hotels I had listed. The top 3 or 4 on my list didn't seem to be located in the GPS and despite asking the local Police for directions the one-way streets and traffic didn't seem to help me find them.
I checked the listed hotels in the GPS and one of the hotels was identified and directions available. I rode up the one-way street the wrong way and arrived at the hotel via the driveway that went through the petrol station at the back - odd arrangements…
I checked-in to Dinasty Hotel and was glad to be off the bike, out of the gear and showered since it had ended up being a very long and hot day for not a great deal of distance.
Dinasty Hotel had taken the owner 10yrs to build with obviously particular and careful workmanship. The facades, the wrought iron, the timber joinery, the stone floors were all bespoke and individualised for Dinasty Hotel. The owner was very proud.
After I had spent a few hours working on this website over a beer or two I connected the computer to upload and headed out to see a little of Tirana at night.
I could hear the tartan wallpapered bar called Radio before I could see it, or inside, since it was set back and behind another building form the main street. I wasn't sure of Tirana dress codes so approached the doorman to ask if shorts and thongs (flip-flops) would be OK, as I looked inside it was obvious that they would be with a very casual and relaxed crowd.
I sat down, ordered a beer (relatively easy) and then asked for the food menu (a little more difficult) and then ordered the toasted sandwich (quite a bit of confusion). Ended up all good.
Radio Tirana - Tartan wallpaper and old roadies and memorabilia.
It was a pretty cool and relaxed bar to have an easy bite to eat, relax after a hot day of riding and chill-out.
I was rather tired and headed back to Dinasty to check my upload progress and go to sleep.
Tirana sightseeing tomorrow.